Expedition to the World’s Largest Cave

The warning flag came when I came across the mandatory requirement for medivac insurance.

I had applied for a spot on an expedition to Hang Sơn Đoòng; the world’s largest cave. Located deep inside the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in North Central Vietnam, Sơn Đoòng was first discovered in 1991 by a local man while seeking shelter from a storm. So hidden was the entrance, he could not remember its exact location until rediscovering it again 18 years later in 2008. It was shortly thereafter that the first cave explorers from the British Cave Research Association would enter and discover its immensity. Now it was my turn.

After flying into Dong Hoi, I made my way to the village Phong Nha where my guides and expedition team were based. An orientation that night would set the stage for what the next 5 days and 50km of trekking would look like. Talk of leeches and snakes in the trees caused beads of trepidation on my forehead.

After a restless sleep wrought with jet lag, dread and anticipation, it was time to load up and make the 45 minute trip up a winding, narrow road to the trailhead.

Our porters, young lads in their 20s pulled mammoth packs, that would sustain us all for 4 nights underground, on to their backs. Within moments, they quickly disappeared into the jungle with the stealth and agility of mountain goats.

I grabbed my pack, loaded with a ridiculous amount of camera gear, and then started into the thick and humid jungle. After a few miles we passed through a tiny settlement of about 30 people, then we meandered along and through the Rao Thuong River shouldered by a valley of Karst mountains and thick jungle. We would make over a hundred water crossings on this journey and trench foot was a serious possibility. I was glad I had self-draining boots.

As the light of day began to wane, we arrived at the entrance to Hang Én, the world’s third-largest cave. It is necessary to pass completely through this cave to reach Hang Sơn Đoòng, so we strapped on our helmets and headlamps, and stepped into the darkness.

The Great RoomTimm Chapman

A scramble up an enormous pile of sharp edged boulders lead to an overlook to our first camp. Our speedy porter team had fully assembled a temporary community of tents along a sandy stretch inside the mouth of the cave, next to the river while cooks prepped the evening meal

Dinner that night was a buffet of fried pork, complemented by an assortment of vegetables including bok choy, beans and broccoli, as well as fruits like wee oranges and juicy dragonfruit.

Our lead guide and caving expert appeared an unlikely sort for such a strenuous physical activity such as this. Ian Watson, aka ‘Watto’ is a 60’s-ish semi-rotund caver, who was one of the first to explore Sơn Đoòng in 2009. Watto’s jovial demeanour was infectious as he recounted stories of past trips with our other lead, Adam Spillane.

Ascent to the Garden of EdamTimm Chapman

The next morning began early as the mouth of the cave filled with the dawn of the new day. A hearty breakfast fueled the group as we headed further in.

Hang Én bores 1.6km through a mountain with a cross section that reaches about 170 metres in width. It was only when we turned on a few, 32,000 lumen, lamps to illuminate the upper reaches of the cave that the size became apparent. Our team was reduced to mere dots of light under a 30-story-high-ceiling of rock.

The scrambling continued as we climbed up, over and through rocks before finally emerging on the other side of the mountain. We followed the river for another few kilometres before climbing up the steep muddy slopes of another mountain. Halfway up, we would find the jagged smirk of Hang Sơn Đoòng’s mouth. I could feel the wind of its breath and hear a faint rush of water in the back of its throat as I hooked on to a fixed rope and began to rappel into the depths.

Unlike Hang Én, the entrance to Sơn Đoòng is significantly smaller, so you are enveloped into darkness almost immediately. Without a headlamp, it is completely and entirely dark.

Sơn Đoòng is more than 5 km in length and at one point, its ceiling rises an unfathomable 200 metres high; more than twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. As our team explored deeper into the cave, we would eventually reach a doline; an area where the cave ceiling collapsed millennia ago exposing the darkness to a world above. Over time, light, rain, soil and seed entered the cave and a micro ‘jungle’ emerged. The humidity mixing with the colder temperature of the river combine to produce clouds; casting a scene straight from the dawn of time.

We climbed up and through the doline on our way to our second camp, where we took a much needed rest.

That next day we continued deeper into the cave, past skyscraper sized stalagmites and enormous icicles-of-rock stalactites, before approaching a second doline and its lush jungle coined ‘The Garden of Edam.’

Our next camp awaited us on the other side. A brief stop for a bite and then we continued to the formidable end of the cave; a small ‘lake’ bounded by the 15-story-high ‘Great Wall of Vietnam’; a perpetually wet fortress of sculpted rock that looks straight out of a film set for Alien.

Perched high atop The Lying Dog, a caver ponders a safe way to ford the River below inside Hang Son ÃoÃ²ng cave.Timm Chapman

The next few days we retraced our way back through both caves and then through the jungle back to civilization. My exhaustion was overshadowed by the prehistoric beauty I had experienced and the relief that we didn’t need to call for a medivac.

GUIDEBOOK Tour Company: Oxalis Adventure Tours, tel: 84 232 3677 678, Phong Nha Village, Son Trach Commune, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. Internet: http://www.oxalis.com/vn . Tour cost roughly $4000 CDNGetting there: The nearest major airport is in Dong Hoi, Vietnam. There are regular flights from Ho Chi Minh City on Vietnamese Airlines, VietJet Air & Jetstar. Phong Nha can be reached via taxi from the airport in Dong Hoi or via prearranged shuttle through Oxalis. A Visa is required to enter Vietnam. Learn more at https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/canadian-citizens/Where to stay: Aside from the campsites in the cave, you’ll need a place to stay overnight before and after the trek. I stayed at Oxalis Home in Phong Nha the night before. Rooms with breakfast run about $50 US – $65 US per night. You can book this through the Tour company. The Tour includes your final night at Chap Lay Farmstay just outside of Phong Nha.Additional information: Foot care is essential – be sure to take good quality wool socks, one pair for each day. Boots must be able to drain and have good grip on wet rock. Good idea to take moleskin or anti-blister cream. I applied mine every day. Always use long pants that you can tuck into socks when traveling through the jungle. Leeches will find any way in and are not pleasant if they reach skin.

Timm Chapman is a professional fine art landscape and travel photographer that tends to follow the path less traveled with way too much gear.

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